How's the silage ground traveling this year?
Grazed off? Slurry out? Fert spread?
Or is it like a bog at the moment, a good year for rewetting.
there has to be compaction.
Machines are just getting bigger.
Going to organise silage samples before housing going to sample roughly 10bales from first cut and 10 bales from second cut should I buy a silage core for doing this or just take a piece of silage from each of the bales. Also looking at Oldcastle labs they recommend not sampling bales for 10-12weeks but my second cut is only 8weeks cut should I leave the second cut for a few more weeks or is 8 weeks plenty.
https://www.grasstecgroup.com/p/bale-silage-sampler/balesilagesampler?srsltid=AfmBOooSj8S9mnHLgi8F2qf0Ou4u708Ke4W8oNV07af-efj5gBTtrEa6
TThere Is no way I would take a mixed sample from that many bales and I definitely would not take multiplesampke from each cut. Samples cost 35euro / sample from teagasc. Most people take one sample from each cut.
That's all I will be taken is one sample for each cut so two samples in total. But I wondering should I take a sample from say 5 different bales from first cut and then mix them all up in the sample bag and do the same for second cut as not all fields make the same silage
No go in 4-5" into a bale and take a single sample. It's unlikely to vary substantially
How long would you leave before sampling seen some say 10 weeks but I would have though 8 weeks would be ok
Problem with that is you can end up picking out too much leafy, stemmy or seedy grass.
Ya there is a risk with a single sample. Ignore docks or extremely stemmy. Handiest way is if you have a bale open take a sample out of the middle of the bale.
Not a lot if the bale was well packed, no holes in plastic and the bale is from.the middle of the stack
However a sample in January/February is not much use to use for that year. However silage varies little from year to year if made at similar times
I've had silage made for 50 years and never tested any.
that’s a wrap for 2024.
Hopefully
How is everyone looking for fodder as we start to head into the winter. Should be fine here once we can leave cattle out for another few weeks. Hopefully the weather stays ok, if not they will have to come in.
should be grand but didn’t help that cattle broke into where silage bales were and made shite of about 20 bales. Was elec fence in front of it but had being unturned off and not back on again 😟
Alot of cattle in this time last year.
Went for a walk across the fields today. Grass starting to disappear. The week ahead is not to be great weather wise. I hope not to start putting stock in for another 2 weeks all going to plan.
got my silage results back today. Overall I think I’m happy my first cut was two weeks later than planned
first cut
second cut
the protein is abit disappointing not sure how to get that up for next year. Overall I’m happy enough. Was hoping to feed weanlings 2kg of nuts along with this silage and they should do ok. And dry cows will be ok
What dates did you cut your silage?
Was cut around the 10th of June and then again at last days of July. Would that be considered good silage or just average? Also the first cut is 38% there should be a lot of feeding in them bales I hope or maybe its to dry
Why are you planning on giving the weanlings 2kg ration, what would be the plan with them out of interest
protein levels in grass were well back this year everywhere according to my feed rep. I always give weanlings at least 2kg of a 16% protein meal regardless of results, they are still growing and need every bit of it. I’ve replacements here coming 3 next spring that were reared in two batches and the ones that got no meal in their first winter are way behind in size now where they were way ahead at weaning. I know a lot will disagree but they need looking after when growing.
would normally give around that but never really had silage over 70 dmd before usually about 65 or there about. The plan would be to sell the bulls next April / may and possible the heifers also.
I’m not sure to be honest as it’s something that I’m aiming to improve myself is silage quality, this is stuff I cut the end of May, hoping it should be good
are these dairy stock or beef stock? Any idea what they average daily in the shed over the winter?
Looks similar to my own. I normally try to cut myself at last week of may but I think the weather was bad or something i can’t really remember but I got delayed anyway.
I have suckler stock and I have space and feed so considering buying either some dairy beef weanlings or suckler heifers. I would be aiming to get a kg a day roughly I hope anyway.
What are you feeding?
Is 1kg a day the norm people would be feeding to wearings over the winter ?
Don't give them anything other than minerals here.
They'll make it back on grass
Unless silage quality was dire I don't feed ration to them
I’m feeding dairy stock, weanings and 18 month cattle
What would the protein be like in beet does anyone know?
If you are going to feed then the best time is to do it in their first winter indoors
You would need silage up over 76 or 77 dmd to consider not feeding if you want them to gain good weight
I dont think its a good job relying on compensation growth off grass
Once the potential is in them and they will be u animals I would do the sums and try to feed a 16% but or ration
If you had two groups you could experiment a bit and see what works out best
You are well rewarded for condition on coloured cattle at the moment and it looks like that will be the case for the next few months
That’s what I give - little over 2 lb and to weanlings only. Stop at least a month before turnout.
Don’t give anything to older cattle.
Usually keep about 50 weanling bulls over the winter. Don’t house them until mid December. They go onto 2kg a day until early February. Then cut them back to a kg a day until a week or so before they go out. Try to get them out from mid March on. I think bulls especially need to be kept thriving.
Housed 1 1/2 year old bulls this last two weeks that have done a kg a day since last October. For an extra €45 a head over the winter I think it’s well worth feeding them. It’s also a great way of picking out a sick one.
Bulls yes will need to be pushed on
Finishing weanlings off of grass I can't see the benifit financially of ration over the winter esp the 1st winter,
I'm a big believer in compensatory growth & with lighter cattle they are first out of the shed, onto good grass & they bomb on
Diff systems & depends on when you need to kill need by
Sorry to bring back up these silage results but I just noticed something about them that the ammonia levels in the 2 sample's are very different with the first cut being 4.69% which means excellent fermentation and the second cut which is 14.30 which is still ok
But the reason I wanted to bring it up is there was one difference between both these cuts which I think caused the second cut to not ferment as good as first cut. This is all baled silage and the first cut there was film applied to the bales and the second cut was netting. so That means for me going forward I will be using film on film in future it may be more expensive bur it seems like it is going to make a difference
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